Mailbox support



Dec. 23, 1947,. F. ..CONRAD ETAL MAILBOX SUPPORT Filed May '7, 1946awuc/Mcvo RICHAED F. CGNRAD AND JOHN H-NEI'S MM /W Patented Dec. 23,1947 UNITED STATE MAILBOX SUPPORT Richard F. Conrad and John H. Neis,St. Cloud, Minn.

Application May 7, 1946, Serial No. 667,894

1 Claim.

This invention relates to installations for holding mail boxes or thelike on the roadside, and in position where the collector may drive intoproximity to the box and deliver the mail without leaving the conveyanceor vehicle.

An object of this invention is to provide a swingingly mounted arm orcrane, on which the mail box is secured, and the invention furthermoreincludes means for yieldingly holding the crane extended into positionwhere access to the mail box is convenient, the said means including anarm with relation to which the crane is swingingly mounted, associatedwith a spring connecting the arm and the crane, whereby if the saidcrane is struck by a moving object, it will yield and automaticallyreturn to its extended normal position.

A further object of the invention is to provide supports for a mail boxand a buffer or guard on the said crane at the side of the mail box sothat the mail box will be guarded against impact by a moving vehicle orthe like, on account of the fact that the guard is yieldable and extendslaterally of the crane in order that it would be encountered before themail box was struck.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a holder for amail box, in which a post is stationed at the side of the road in aposition that the crane will extend outwardly to the edge of the road sothat a mail box mounted on the free end of the crane may be accessibleto the traveler on the road.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter indicated which is strong and durable and which comprisescomparatively few, inexpensive parts which have proven efficient andsatisfactory in use.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention consists inthe details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination ofparts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to theaccompanying drawings forming part of this application, wherein likecharac-- ters denote corresponding parts in the several views, and inwhich:

Figure 1 illustrates a view in perspective of an installation embodyingthe invention;

Figure 2 illustrates a plan View thereof;

Figure 3 illustrates a view in side elevation; and

Figure illustrates a detail view of the connection between the crane anda spring.

In these drawing 5 denotes a post which is here shown as comprising anangle iron having its end anchored in the ground, and plates 6 and 'lhave edges which conform to the flanges of the angle iron and aresecured thereto preferably by the welding process. A pintle 8 is appliedto the plates and the upper end 9 is angularly disposed so that it restson the upper plate and is thus retained in place.

The crane, to which reference has been made, includes an arm Ill,preferably of angle iron, and a brace II, it being shown that a flangeof the arm I!) is mounted on the pintle and swings thereon, whereas aflange of the brace H is swingingly mounted on the said pintle. The endof the brace extends midway the length of the arm and is secured to theflange thereof by welding, so that the arm which carries the mail box,as will presently appear, is steady and will not readily sag at theouter end.

There are two plates l2 and I3, each secured to the arm by a fasteningl4, such as a screw or bolt, and the mail box l5 is secured thereon inany appropriate fashion. The plates are shown as having apertures forreceiving fastenings by which the mail box may be secured to them. Abowed buffer It comprises a plate having ends I! and I8 angularlydisposed and these angularly disposed ends are secured to the arm, as bythe welding process, thus making an installation which includes fewparts.

The swinging arm I0 is yieldingly held in its extended position by aspring [9, one end being secured to a stationary arm 20 attached to thepost 5, as by welding, and the other end of the said spring is attachedto the swinging arm. The joints or connections between the stationaryarm and the swinging arm preferably comprises a U- shaped anchorage 2|,to which an end of the spring is connected, as shown in Figure 4, and

. one end of each anchorage extends through an aperture in the swingingarm and stationary arm, respectively, and is secured in place by nuts 22and 23 threaded on the projecting portion of the anchoring element,-sothat by these means the spring is held in place, bridging a spacebetween the stationary and swinging arms, in order that the swinging armmay yield, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 2, if the buffer isencountered by a moving object.

We claim:

In a mail box support, a post, an arm pivotally mounted on the post, amail box support on the arm, spring means for moving the arm in onedirection, and a buffer on said arm located on the side of the armhaving the direction of pull of the spring, said buffer comprising astrip of 3 4 metal looped to project laterally of the swinging UNITEDSTATES PATENTS arm and having ends secured to said arm.

RICHARD F. CONRAD. Number Name Date JOHN H. NEIS, 7 ,6 Hurd Apr. 14,1942 5 1,273,696 Vanhoof July 23, 1918 REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences are of record in the file of this patent:

